


The Glass Onion

by orphan_account



Series: The Tides That Pull Us Further [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Homophobia (Kinda), Modern AU, Southern Hospitality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-19
Updated: 2014-05-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 19:19:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1659539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern AU. </p><p>Alexander Karstark decides he is happy just as a storm blows in. </p><p>Written for a friend via her request. The Tides That Pull Us Further is her brain child, I'm just the one putting it all together. </p><p>I own nothing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Glass Onion

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a friend.

It was on July fourth that Alexander Karstark decided he had won.

It was sometime between morning and nighttime. Before first light and after the last. Sometime before the farmers awaken but long after the birds had laid their wings to rest, Lex lay awake in his nostalgia, thinking of all the things he had been told since birth he needed to be happy. The list was short, but between the requirements came a sickening jolt of difficulty and enticing triumph, each ingredient a new challenge, a competition he would try his best to win.

1.Home 2.Job 3.Loving wife.

Home came easy, a stout, sloping building crouching behind the hills and the moors of Chesterton.

Job. No problem. He opened up a new garage on the eastern side of the county, washed cars, tuned them, replaced brakes, propped hoods open, it was a rare occasion you brought him something he couldn't fix.

Loving wife. That was the hardest one. To find someone willing to share his bed, to share his life with, someone smart and beautiful and all he had ever wished for now... that was the hardest thing to find. One is seldom able to manufacture love, but, when she blew in that freshman year of college, dark and sharply tongued he knew that there was nothing fake about his feelings towards her. They got married four years later, in the summer, dressed in white and they danced until the night gave out to the morning.

Then they moved into farm country, to the open sky. To the church and football Sunday routine of lawn mowing and beer drinking and falling asleep sweaty and alive from all the cheering.

There came a time in Alexander Karstark's life where he decided he had won.

It was short time, a time that was soon clotted and smoked with decisions and taxes and late nights spent repairing someone else's problem. Dinner was seldom something he was at home for, so for three weeks, ever since the garage opened, Faith and Lex had gone to the Glass Onion for dinner. It wasn’t the nicest of places; the countertops were always sticky with something or other, the vinyl seats always creak inappropriately with every movement and yes, perhaps the burners on the oven were caked black with grease, but the food was good, the people were kind and they always had a football game playing on the television.

And the Karstarks liked it there. They sat in the back near the T.V, let the grease run off their meals before eating and never went home unhappy or concerned about anything. They’d drive through the darkened moors and fields, gossiping about their respective neighbors and co-workers until they pulled past their fence, climbed the stairs, wished their dog goodnight and fell into the midnight cool sheets of their abandon, fingers tapping and tugging and shuffling beneath the cloak of their dreams and their contentedness.

Until a storm blew in, blew in in the form of a tall, ashen waiter with silver hair and a swirling silver dragon tattoo snaking up his arm.

The Glass Onion changed that day, adopted a sickening feeling of slimy discomfort, of stale beer and the stagnant smell of motor oil. It wasn’t a noticeable change at first, a slight feeling of frost and ice creeping up the back of Lex’s neck; the waiter brought with him the roughened look of a hitchhiker, the spiked ear piercing speaking depths about the salted streets and dirty snow sidewalks he had seen. He spoke with an eastern lilt, cocked his head at just the right angle to make Lex and Faith glare and frown.

They had seen him at the supermarket, the necks of his shirts sloping far lower than you would see on any of the locals, eyes quick and darting, searching for something he could not find yet knew was there, he was trouble, they both knew it, a drifter if ever they had seen. Which is why they never sat in his section.

They always sat in Dany’s section, always asked her how university was going, always asked her if she and her fiancée had found a place to settle down. And she would always thank them kindly and tell them all about her life before she placed their orders and walked away, her long white hair flowing behind her.

 Their surprise was great and noticeable when one day instead of the short waitress, one day they were greeted with...him.

"Welcome back," He drawled, pulling out a notepad and licking the tip of his pen with a small smile, "What can I get for you?"

"I'll have the Cesar Salad," Faith said curtly, squinting to read his name tag, "Thanks... Vinny."

Vinny smiled softly, "Name's not actually Vinny. They had to special order a new nametag, so I'm stuck with this for the time being."

"Oh, what's your real name," Lex asked.

"Viserys."

"Well that's an interesting name. Does it mean something special where you come from?" Viserys eyed Lex coyly (Lex felt his eyes burning holes in the sides of his face) before saying, "I don't come from anywhere special, and no, the name is just a name from this book series my parents really liked."

Faith smiled, but Lex could see it was her brittle glassy one, the one she wore when she knew she was supposed to smile but didn't want to.

"Oh, that's nice," Faith said dryly, and gods bless that Viserys knew that was his queue to place their orders.

He took their menus and made a false attempt at walking away gracefully, his legs and muscles drawn tight as he tried his best to move delicately. It was a lovely charade, but Lex could see that he used to walking broadly, to taking large steps and allowing his feet to swallow the earth.

Lex had to drag his eyes away once he realized he had stared more at the waiter than at his wife or even the football game, felt the shame climb high into his cheeks as he reminded himself that he was happy where he was, he was happy with his life.

Home. Job. Loving wife. That's all he needed. Home. Job. Loving wife.

And yet he didn't want this stranger's eyes on anyone else, didn't want the fire to blow out, didn't want to leave and it scared him. This yearning was wrong. This desire was not something he wanted and yet it was given to him, was cursed to his stubborn skin.

He was halfway through his steak sandwich when he realized that Viserys had started watching him.

It was halfway through the first half of the football game before he realized that he didn't want him to stop.

He was halfway out the door before he realized that this man, this waiter, this enigma, this wolf in sheep's clothing that had found its way into the flock was an explosion, was a nuclear blast, was fire in the body of a man.

And he would ultimately be the thing that took away the victory.

Home. Job. Loving wife. Lex was halfway home before he realized that he hadn't won at all.

**Author's Note:**

> The friend this entire series is dedicated to also does a fair bit of writing herself. 
> 
> If you like Captain Pan, fluff and the total opposite of fluff, why not give her a little looksy?
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/users/Thomas_J_Fluffnstuff/pseuds/Thomas_J_Fluffnstuff


End file.
